Public Policy

  • June 03, 2024

    Senate To Vote On Right To Contraception

    The Senate will vote later this week on a bill to codify a statutory right to contraception, ahead of the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.

  • June 03, 2024

    Atty May Face Suspension In State Street Billing Row

    A Massachusetts disciplinary committee has recommended a six-month suspension for the former managing partner of Thornton Law Firm LLP for his alleged neglect in signing an inflated attorney fees declaration in a class action against State Street.

  • June 03, 2024

    CFPB Unveils Registry To Track Nonbank 'Repeat Offenders'

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday finalized plans to begin centrally tracking court and regulatory enforcement orders against nonbank financial firms, issuing a rule that will create a public registry intended to help shine a light on companies that have recurring run-ins with authorities.

  • June 03, 2024

    Chamber Backs Insurers' Suit To Block DOL Fiduciary Rule

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged a Texas federal judge to block recently finalized regulations by the U.S. Department of Labor that expands who is considered a fiduciary under federal benefits law, arguing that the new rule will unnecessarily increase costs for consumers.

  • June 03, 2024

    TIAA Can't Escape Retirees' Rollover Advice Fee Suit

    A New York federal judge refused to toss retirees' suit alleging the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America violated federal benefits law by coercing them into transferring their assets into higher-fee managed accounts, finding the retirees' new theory of liability should proceed to discovery.

  • June 03, 2024

    Minn. Tax Court Lowers Home Value Over Native Burial Mound

    The valuation of a lakeside parcel including a legally protected Native American burial mound must be lowered because a split of the property as envisioned by assessors would have been unlikely to gain the needed approvals, the Minnesota Tax Court said.

  • June 03, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Migrant Harboring Convictions

    The U.S. Supreme Court won't review a Kentucky federal jury's verdict convicting two restaurateurs on four counts of harboring unauthorized immigrants, shutting down those business owners' arguments they were not intentionally hiding the migrants from the government.

  • June 03, 2024

    CORRECTED: Justices Delay Cert Decision On OSHA Standard Setting

    The U.S. Supreme Court is holding off on deciding if it will review a split decision from the Sixth Circuit that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's authority to set workplace safety standards is constitutional, a ruling that the lower federal appellate court declined to rehear in December.

  • June 01, 2024

    Blockbuster Summer: 10 Big Issues Justices Still Must Decide

    As the calendar flips over to June, the U.S. Supreme Court still has heaps of cases to decide on issues ranging from trademark registration rules to judicial deference and presidential immunity. Here, Law360 looks at 10 of the most important topics the court has yet to decide.

  • May 31, 2024

    Fiji Water Beats $2M Breach-Of-Contract Verdict On Appeal

    California appellate justices on Thursday dismissed Carolina Beverage's $2 million jury win in a contract case accusing Fiji Water of violating their distribution deal by selling Fiji directly to retailers, finding that the agreement wasn't constructively terminated because Carolina Beverage continued to deliver Fiji products to retailers, pursuant to their contract.

  • May 31, 2024

    Monsanto PCB Plaintiffs Want $185M Wash. Win Restored

    A group of public school teachers is urging the Washington State Supreme Court to review a state appellate court decision overturning their $185 million win in a PCB tort against Monsanto, contending the ruling stifles plaintiffs' rights in cases stemming from the same school site and other product liability litigation.

  • May 31, 2024

    'You Didn't Do It': Antitrust Judge Rips Apple's Doc Production

    A California federal judge deciding whether Apple complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules ordered Apple for a second time Friday to produce documents, telling Apple's counsel "the whole point" is to get documents relevant to Apple's decision-making regarding its new 27% fee "and you didn't do it."

  • May 31, 2024

    Colo. AI Bias Law Lays 'Foundation' For New State Patchwork

    Colorado's trailblazing legislation for regulating high-risk uses of artificial intelligence is likely to inspire other states to act, although a host of "reservations" about the measure from advocates and even Colorado's governor are likely to result in a fragmented national landscape as other states' legislatures use the measure as a launching point rather than a model they'd want to fully replicate. 

  • May 31, 2024

    Biden Vetoes Bid To Nix SEC Crypto Accounting Guidance

    President Joe Biden on Friday blocked a Congressional resolution to overturn the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's controversial crypto accounting guidance, saying the measure would "inappropriately constrain" the agency's ability to address future issues.

  • May 31, 2024

    US, Mexico Reach Truce On Steel Factory Labor Violations

    A steel manufacturer in Mexico has agreed to pay a monetary settlement to workers it dismissed in retaliation for their union organizing activity after the United States asked the Mexican government to review the matter, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

  • May 31, 2024

    Trade Commission Advances Indian Ceramic Tile Probe

    The four commissioners of the U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Friday to advance anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into ceramic tile imports from India, backing evidence nine U.S. producers proffered to show harm from the overseas competition.

  • May 31, 2024

    NY Trump Verdict May Make Finding Ga. Jurors Harder

    Former President Donald Trump's felony conviction in New York could make the already daunting task of finding fair and impartial jurors to serve on the jury in the Georgia election interference case even more difficult when it reaches trial, legal experts told Law360 on Friday.

  • May 31, 2024

    States, Energy Organizations Urge Demise Of EPA Water Rule

    Conservative-leaning states and energy industry groups have asked a Louisiana federal judge to strike down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule broadening states' and tribes' power to veto projects like pipelines, export terminals and dams over water quality concerns.

  • May 31, 2024

    DOJ Looks To End A Legacy Of Bias In Sex Assault Cases

    The U.S. Department of Justice says that legal fallacies and misogynistic stereotypes often lead prosecutors to decline to charge alleged perpetrators of sexual violence, but new guidance from the department is pushing prosecutors to give more credence to victims and see that their claims are more thoroughly investigated.

  • May 31, 2024

    Electrolux Calls For Duties On Refrigerators From Thailand

    A subsidiary of Swedish appliance maker Electrolux is calling on the U.S. to place anti-dumping duties on top-freezer refrigerator imports from Thailand, alleging in a duty petition that a surge of unfairly traded imports has been undercutting domestic sales.

  • May 31, 2024

    State Climate Superfund Laws Will Face Fossil Fuel Fightback

    A first-of-its-kind law in Vermont will impose Superfund-like liability and cleanup tabs on fossil fuel companies for climate change-related damages, though legal experts predict the industry will fight such laws as fiercely as it's fought climate tort lawsuits brought by state and local governments.

  • May 31, 2024

    Judge Doubts Okla. Can Stop Title X Cut Over Abortion Stance

    A Tenth Circuit judge appeared skeptical Friday that Oklahoma could prevent federal officials from stripping $4.5 million in funding over the state's refusal to provide abortion referrals, suggesting the state's claim of anti-abortion discrimination is better suited to an attack on Title X writ large.

  • May 31, 2024

    Coinbase Says 'Unworkable' Crypto Enforcement Needs Rules

    Crypto exchange Coinbase told the Third Circuit on Friday that anything less than ordering the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to write rules for digital assets will "abet the dithering and delay" tactics that the regulator is using to "bludgeon" and "cripple" the industry with enforcement cases.

  • May 31, 2024

    Conn. Justices Order Arrested Univ. Employee Reinstated

    Connecticut's highest court on Friday ordered Central Connecticut State University to reinstate an employee who was fired after engaging the police in a nearly three-hour armed standoff, finding an arbitrator's decision to give him his job back did not violate "an explicit, well-defined and dominant public policy."

  • May 31, 2024

    Texas Appeals Court Revives Suit Over Drilling Near Homes

    A Texas appeals court has partially revived a lawsuit brought by an environmental group against a city that approved a gas drilling zone near residential homes, finding Thursday that the trial court has jurisdiction over alleged violations of a state law regulating government meetings.

Expert Analysis

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • A Changing Regulatory Landscape For Weight Loss Drugs

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    As drugs originally approved to treat diabetes become increasingly popular for weight loss purposes, federal and state regulators and payors are increasing their focus on how these drugs are prescribed, and industry participants should pay close attention to rapidly evolving compliance requirements, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling

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    Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Compliance Considerations For New Data Protection Law

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    Sam Castic at Hintze Law discusses how to determine if your organization is covered by the newly enacted Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, the scope of the law's restrictions, and how to go about compliance as its June 23 effective date approaches.

  • Proposed Semiconductor Buy Ban May Rattle Supply Chains

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    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recent proposed rulemaking clarifies plans to ban government purchases of semiconductors from certain Chinese companies, creating uncertainty around how contractors will be able to adjust supply chains that are already burdened and contracted to capacity, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • CFPB Poised To Up The Ante After Supreme Court Victory

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court emphatically ruled last week that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure did not violate the Constitution, the agency boasted that it was "here to stay," signaling that it is moving full steam ahead with its regulatory, enforcement and supervisory agenda, says Jim Sandy at McGlinchey Stafford.

  • Opinion

    NEPA Final Rule Unlikely To Speed Clean Energy Projects

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    A recent final rule from the White House Council on Environmental Quality purports to streamline federal environmental reviews to accelerate the construction of renewable energy infrastructure — but it also expands consideration of climate change and environmental justice, creating vast new opportunities for litigation and delay, says Thomas Prevas at Saul Ewing.

  • Diving Deep Into Sweeping NY Financing Bill — And Its Pitfalls

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    A New York bill seeking to impose state usury limits onto a broader variety of financing arrangements and apply lender licensing requirements to more diverse entities would present near-insurmountable compliance challenges for lenders and retailers, say Kate Fisher and Tom Quinn at Hudson Cook.

  • Opinion

    USPTO's Proposed Disclaimer Rule Would Harm Inventors

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers will make the patent system less available to inventors and will unfairly favor defendants in litigation, say Stephen Schreiner at Carmichael IP and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • New Crypto Reporting Will Require Rigorous Recordkeeping

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    The release of a form for reporting digital asset transactions is a pivotal moment in the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to track cryptocurrency activities that increases oversight by requiring brokers to report investor sales and exchanges, say Shaina Kamen and Max Angel at Holland & Knight.

  • A Comparison Of FDIC, OCC Proposed Merger Approaches

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    Max Bonici and Connor Webb at Venable take a closer look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's respective bank merger proposals and highlight certain common themes and important differences, in light of regulators continually rethinking their approaches to bank mergers.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • Behind Court Challenges To The FTC's Final Noncompete Rule

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent final rule banning noncompetes may not go into effect any time soon amid a couple of Texas federal court challenges seeking to bar the rule's implementation, which will likely see appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, says Michael Elkins at MLE Law.

  • Colo. Lending Law Could Empower State-Chartered Banks

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    Lending programs that rely on rate exportation by state banks should pay close attention to legislative activity and ongoing litigation surrounding Colorado's decision to opt out of rate exportation, which could set a precedent that state-chartered banks have power on par with national banks, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

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